This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to our winner, Maria Elena! The transition to a new school year can be stressful for students—a new bus to catch, new faces to learn, new hallways to navigate. From making friends to making the grade, our August giveaway prize bundle includes resources kids of all ages need to handle the ups, downs, ins, and outs of heading back to school. One reader will win a copy of each of these resources:

Each comment counts as a separate entry—that’s four chances to win! Entries must be received by midnight, August 18, 2017.

The winner will be contacted via email on or around August 21, 2017, and will need to respond within 72 hours to claim his or her prize or another winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way affiliated with, administered, or endorsed by Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. Winner must be a U.S. resident, 18 years of age or older.

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Educators begin the year by establishing rules of the classroom using a Character Development focus may help students be more aware of and accountable for their own actions. It may also build compassionate and empathetic classrooms, children so need help to build Social Emotional skills (competencies).

Take your child to visit their new classroom, school, and teacher before the start of the new year. Talk with your child about the upcoming transition and use a count down calendar to help them prepare.

Create a sense of community. Get students involved. Set the good example. Model every rule, every procedure, every expectation, no matter how simple it might be, students have the right to know exactly what is expected from them.

Catch the eclipse on August 21st, which is also the first day of school for some students. There are some great educational resources that can go along with this special event, such as from NASA.gov or Bill Nye.

Get adequate rest.Set a reasonable goal for yourself and stay on task until you complete it.Once you’ve completed it,assign yourself a new goal to strive to reach.Make it fair and reasonable,so not to over stress yourself,but give you something to be proud of.The main goal is to follow your dreams,and never give up.They are in reach,if you dedicate yourself enough.

Build routines before the first day and then have “space” to focus on the fun. When my daughter was little, we practiced transitions into new classrooms: Scan the room, identify the teacher, find a person who might look like a new friend, and settle in. As she got older, we added tasks, addressing her biggest worries: For middle school, it was tour the building and find all the bathrooms! For high school, it was take every opportunity–before the big first day–to walk the halls, finding her classrooms and the places she could ask for help. Now she is a pro!

For the little ones do a fun “practice run” of the morning routine at home the day before school starts, and then play school for a bit! This is a fun way to work out any jitters and acknowledge the excitement.

I like to do an “All About Me” project that is a send home parent envolvment project. They can do this as a family and have family pictures etc. I always hang these projects in the classroom for the children to look at when they miss their families.

Working for a public library in a small town I can honestly say my best piece of advice is to remember to breath, take it one step at a time and don’t be afraid or ashamed to ask for help when you need it.

Not everything needs to be perfect for the first day. Leave some of the classroom bear or “undone” so your students can help contribute to its greatness. When they feel a sense of responsibility and belonging within their environment it leads to more co-ownership behavior. You don’t need to put all the stress on yourself if you include the community of students in the process.

I am a Family Child Care Provider.
I work with kids all ages(infant to school age)My tip is for the kids: Make one new friend a day (Introduce yourself to one kid and learn his/her name too) New school can be overwhelming for little ones.

To all the students and staff returning as well as the new students and staff….remember it is a fresh new year! The possibilities are endless! Try to carry the new year feeling throughout the year; as difficult as that can be at times! 🙂

The social emotional curriculum is just as important as the academic. Teach social emotional skills and reteach as needed. Provide additional support with firmness and kindness. We never want to do anything that will break the children’s hearts.

Families: Talk together about what to expect on the bus, at school, with friends, with new teacher.
Teachers: Be prepared. No gray areas as far as classroom expectations. DO something exciting on first day…art, mixer game,

Resilient children are made not born. If a teacher becomes angry or frustrated, the children in her classroom may begin to misbehave, reflecting the powerful emotion being expressed by the teacher. To calm a child, you must first calm yourself.

I would say that teachers need to approach every student from a trauma informed lens. Don’t say What is wrong with a student but say What has happened to this student when looking at their behaviors. Remember students sometimes speak with their actions because they are unable to tell us with their words. Look beyond the behaviors.

Take the time to build a classroom culture where everyone’s successes are celebrated by their fellow students. For elementary students, The Tale of the Warm Fuzzy is a great place to begin. I put a mailbox in the classroom and gave each student a small notepad to write “warm fuzzies” to fellow classmates each week (Each student has a classroom roster & has to send at least one WF to each person in the class as well as personal choices.)http://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/Domain/3465/Awesomeness%20-%20Warm%20Fuzzy%20Story.pdf
Students rise to the challenge when the culture is supportive!

I recently read an article which mentioned not to ask the students how their summer was because it alludes to everyone having a great summer which isn’t always the case for some of our youngsters; they go through so much! Instead, think of other, non-emotional questions you can ask and talk about with your students on their first days back to school.

Teachers, nourish yourself with healthy foods, play and rest! Start the first day with a positive and determined attitude; do not project negativity, no matter how challenging the group of kids you’ll be teaching, have been for other teachers. Give each student a fair chance, and get to know as much as you can about him or her. Focus on accountability and personal responsibility, and lay down the rules day one. Most of all, have FUN with your students!

To help our preschool children become familiar with daily classroom routines I have my staff make a visual schedule placed at their eye level. We plan to make a giant bingo board for each class with the classroom rules and manners.

I’m a kinder educator….
For students/parents: Label everything, please!!! Many can have the same things (back packs, water bottles, etc…). If change of clothes get loose, educators know who to give it back to.
For educators: We use colored pipe cleaners to place on children’s backpacks to indicate the color bus they’re on.

Be patient, fair, and consistent! Teachers and students need these skills at all times,but especially at the beginning of the school year. Routines and expectations are needed to make a classroom thrive. The beginning of the year is an extensive transition for both teachers and students. Expect the unexpected the first weeks of school! Remember to begin the year the way you want the year to end. Set expectations in place, model them consistently, treat students fairly and be patient with them as they are learning. It may be rough in the beginning, but as students learn what is expected of you, the journey into the school year will become easier.

For teachers & families – building strong relationships with one another is key!! Take time to have a conversation and get to know one another. Everyone is working toward the same goal – a successful year for the student, so talk about how to make this happen.

We take pictures of their new school and post it in the classroom. We make a special book using contact paper and we find pictures of books, pencils, backpack, crayons and other school supplies and make a special “all my own” back to school book.